Modern Dukes: A Lil Lost
by AmandaRobsonDuke
Summary: Grandchildren of Bo Duke, Carra and Trace find themselves a little lost.


Sheriff Rosco P. Coltrane would turn over in his grave if he knew not only a second, but now a third generation of Dukes continued to run amuck in Hazzard County. _Jit! Those dang Dukes!_ He'd say, slapping his hat against the side of his desk.

But, even the old Sheriff couldn't have stopped life from carrying on. And true to their family heritage, the modern Dukes of Hazzard continued to get into and out of trouble.

The youngest of the Duke clan- Trace and Carra- were about to find themselves in a while mess of trouble.

Though they may have been twins, the pair were nothing alike. Never mind the fact there is one of each gender. They were polar opposites. Slightly older, but not always wiser, is Carra. She stands out among her siblings as the only one to have inherited her father's dark features. While her brother, Trace, is blond with bright blue eyes. He's the

spitting image of his paternal grandfather, Bo. Not only do they differ in appearance but also in personality: Carra is outgoing and adventurous, while Trace is quiet and thoughtful. One might wonder if they were truly siblings for all their differences. Their mother can assure you they did indeed arrive together- a woman never forgets giving birth to herchildren, especially when there's two at once!

A five year old's world is all about play, and the two young Dukes were no different. So when Carra asked her brother to play outside he happily obliged. The pair raced out the back door of the Duke ranch house, cowboy boots clunking against the wooden porch.

They ran along the fence line of the yard, stirring up the normally content horses. The always watchful CandleLight followed them from her side of the fence, trotting beside the twins as they raced through the long grass. Like usual, Carra lead, but her brother pushed on her back from behind, urging her to go faster.

The pair reached the end of the fence, leaving the Palomino horse behind. She whinnied to them, but they kept running. The grass field changed to pine trees and eventually the twins collapsed against the trunk of a large tree. Both were out of breath, panting heavily.

"Why'd you push me?!" Carra demanded, glaring at her brother.

"You were goin' too slow!" He replied with a grin. She threw a pinecone at his forehead. "Hey!" Trace rubbed his head and reached for his own pinecone, chucking it back at his sister. It stuck in her black hair.

"TRACE!" She yelled, scooping up a handful of pinecones. Carra tossed them onto her brother as she jumped up and raced away from him, laughing.

He leapt up to follow, chasing after her. He stooped to grab a fallen branch, waving it in front of him like a sword as he chased her. "AHHHH!" He gave a loud battle cry.

Carra looked over her shoulder, seeing Trace had found his weapon she grabbed one of her own and whipped around to face him. "Go away you pukeface!" She hollered, brandishing her stick sword.

Trace skidded across the fallen pine needles and held up his own sword. "No one calls me pukeface! You poopbutt!" He lunged forward and their swords collided with a crack. The two jostled, swords clacking together wildly. Carra got the upper hand when Trace's snapped in half.

"HA!" She stepped forward, poking her brother in the gut with the end of her sword.

"Noooooo!" Trace held his stomach, eyes wide as he over-dramatically staggered across the forest floor. "I've been stabbed!" He moaned and groaned before collapsing to the ground. He rolled and twisted in mock pain before laying motionless, tongue hanging out the side of his mouth.

"I AM THE WINNER!" Carra yelled, jumping around her fallen brother with her sword triumphantly above her head. After a minute of celebration, Carra now out of breath, stood over Trace, poking him with the stick in the ribs.

Trace couldn't stay dead for long and curled up to protect his ribs, giggling madly. "Stop! Stop! That tickles!"

Carra roared with laughter and couldn't keep herself standing, she fell to the soft floor of needles. "Dead guys… don't… laugh!" She told Trace, her words punctuated with giggles.

"Not as dead as you thought!" Trace jumped up, puffing his chest out proudly. "My trick worked!" But he couldn't stop his own laughter and snuck to his knees beside his sister. As their laughter subsided, he looked around them. "Hey, where are we?" He asked, blue eyes darting around for something familiar. All he saw was trees, more and more

trees.

Carra lifted her head to glance around too. "I dunno… nothin' but trees!" She started to feel scared and scooted closer to her brother. "Where's the house?" She whispered.

Trace too was feeling fearful and crouched close to his sister. "I can't see it!" He answered, frantically looking for a sign of the old home. Trace could feel his sister's fingers digging into his arm as she grabbed onto it.

"I'm scared…" She muttered, her own brown eyes searching for a sign of something that would tell them the way home.

Trace nodded in reply. "Me too."

Back at the house the twin's mother, Amanda called to them from the porch. "Trace! Carra! Dinnertime!" She knew they often ran around the ranch yard but never went far and would soon come running; a Duke never missed a meal. But there was no sign of the little ones. Her brow creased deeply in concern and she hollered again, using her hands to amplify the sound, "CARRA! TRACE!" Nothing.

Eclipse, the young wolf-pup raced off the porch past Amanda, nearly knocking her down the steps. The puppy barked and yapped as she ran towards the fence. As if in response to the dog, CandleLight came closer to the fence, nickering loudly to the dog. Eclipse continued to bark at the horse.

With a sigh, Amanda jogged down the steps to follow the dog, reaching out to tug on her collar gently. "Stop barking at the horses." She scolded. But the puppy tugged harder, while CandleLight pranced anxiously. _What has gotten into this dog? _Amanda wondered. Unable to hold the strong pup back, Amanda was forced to let her go. CandleLight danced in a circle, head held high in alert while the puppy yapped.

In the woods the twins huddled close together, arguing about which way to go. "It's that way!" Trace pointed to the left. "Noooo. That way!" Carra replied pointing to the right.

The sun was sinking low over the horizon, casting long shadows over the ground. Back at the house Amanda held her hands up in defeat as the animals acted out of character. She sighed, they would have to wait. Her kids still hadn't returned. "Trace! Carra!" She yelled again.

CandleLight whinned loudly and stomped her front hoof against the ground to get Amanda's attention. "What is the matter with you woman?" She asked the horse, walking to the fence to comfort her. As Amanda reached a hand out towards CandleLight, the horse clamped her teeth down on Amanda's sleeve, tugging at it. "Candie!" Amanda tugged back. She was shocked at the horse's behaviour, it simply wasn't like her.

As the horse tugged her owner along the fence, Amanda stumbling to keep up, Eclipse followed close at her heels yapping loudly. Amanda was running now, trying to keep up with the horse as she pulled her towards the end of the field. "Not now!" She needed to find the kids, now. She didn't have time for this.

When CandleLight reached the corner of the fence she finally let go of Amanda's sleeve. The horse bobbed her head towards the gate, pawing at the ground eagerly. "I don't have time for a ride… " Amanda said in response to the horse. Eclipse jumped up at Amanda's legs, whining to her. It dawned on her, the two animals knew where the kids were. In a rush she had the gate open and was climbing up the fence to hop onto the horse's back. Candie was patient, waiting for her rider to mount bareback, but her head bobbed.

As the darkness grew, Trace and Carra hugged one another, shivering. "Daddy always said to stay where you are if you get lost." Carra told her brother wisely. "It's better to stay where you are so someone can find you." Trace nodded. "Okay…. " He was hesitant.

As soon as Amanda was settled on the horse's back, Eclipse took off like a shot into the woods. The well-trained horse was eager to follow, but waited for the okay from her rider. Amanda kicked the horse into motion and they followed the puppy at a gallop, darting through the trees. Eclipse howled loudly.

The sound of the howling echoed through the woods surrounding the Duke ranch and the twins immediately picked their heads up, listening carefully to the sound. Carra clung to her brother. The howl rippled through the quiet forest again. "What's that?" She whispered.

"Wolves…" He murmured back, clinging just as tightly to his sister.

The puppy barked this time, stopping to look back for Amanda and her horse. When she caught a glimpse of them she continued on, barking again.

"That's Eclipse!" Trace cried. He stood up and his sister followed suit. "Eclipse!" He called to the dog. She yapped in reply. The twins looked at each other, relieved to hear the familiar sound of their dog. "Eclipse!" They called together.

The puppy came into view and ran harder, eager to get to her family. When she reached them she licked their faces and hands wildly, knocking them onto their bums. Satisfied they were okay, she howled again.

The sound of hooves thundering against the soft forest floor echoed around them and grew louder. "Momma!" Carra cried, pushing back up to her feet when she caught sight of the horse and rider.

Amanda was off the horse before she even stopped, clutching her little ones against her. They clambered to get closer, little arms and hands tugging at her urgently. "Momma." Carra muttered again when her mother's arm wrapped around her.

She held the twins against her tight. "How did you get all the way out here?" She asked, pressing back to look them both over, making sure they weren't injured. Trace wiped at his nose, snot dripping from it as he blinked back his tears. Cowboys didn't cry, no matter how scared they were. "We were playin' and runnin' and ran too far." He answered, Carra nodded in agreement.

"We're sorry Momma."

Amanda crushed them both against her again. "I'm just glad you're okay. I was worried."

"How did you find us?" Trace asked, sniffling. Eclipse licked his cheek.

"Eclipse and Candie knew where you were." Amanda explained. Hearing her name the horse came closer, bending her neck to nudge Amanda's shoulder with her nose. "They were going crazy! I realized they knew where you were and they brought me here." Carra reached up over her mom's shoulder to rub Candie's face with her tiny hand. The horse closed her eyes in contentment.

"Next time we go out to play, let's bring Eclipse." Trace told his sister, petting the puppy's head. Carra nodded. "She won't let us get lost. That was scary." She told her brother.

Amanda got up to her feet and hoisted the twins up onto Candie's back one at a time. "Oy… you're getting too big for me to pick up…" She muttered. Candie knickered in response. The horse had a sense of humour. "Hey…" Carra started, putting a hand on her hip, "We aren't THAT heavy." The horse bobbed her head as if to say _yeah right…_

"Alright… that's enough ya'll… lets get these two home. What do ya say girls?" Amanda looked down at the puppy, whose tongue was hanging out the side of her mouth. Eclipse yapped happily and the group headed off through the woods towards the house.


End file.
